Forced circulation air heating unit

ABSTRACT

A blower arrangement has a housing which includes upper and lower main walls and a substantially semicylindrical wall connected thereto which defines a substantially semicylindrical section that closes the rear of the housing; the main walls define a channel for the entry and exit of fluid, that has near the housing frontat least one opening for fluid intake and discharge. A rotatable crossflow blower is disposed eccentrically in the substantially semicylindrical section; and a flat partition is disposed in the channel and defines with the blower circumference a gap of about one-twentieth the blower diameter and partitions the channel into entry and exit portions. A heating device may be mounted on the partition, and the entry portion of the channel may open sideways of the housing.

United States Patent 1151 3,702,918 M r 51 Nov. 14, 1972 FORCED CIRCULATION HEATING 3,284,611 Ill 1966 Laing ..219/368 X UNIT 3,263,749 8/1966 Dormitzer ..2l9/370 UX 3,178 100 4/1965 Datwyler ..4l5/54 72 In ento. Hinri 1 v r i ch Kelkhem 3,322,932 5/1967 Laing ..165/122 x 7 Assigneez Braun Akfiengeseuscm Frank FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS fun/Main, Germany 1,070,337 12/1959 Germany ..415/54 [22] Filed: June 29, 1970 Primary Examiner-A. Bartls PP 50,637 Attorney-Emest F. Marmorek 30 Foreign Application Priority um .[57] ABSTRACT I July 8, 1969 Luxembourg ..s9.050 A bbwe mangemem has a musing whid includes v upper and lower main walls and a substantially 52 us. 01. ..219/370 165/122 219/364 seniwlindrical wan cmmected harem which defines 219568 219/371 219/374 415/54 substantially semicylindrical section that closes the 51 Int. Cl. .1105!) 3/02, F04d 1/00 F24h 3/04 musing; the main walls define a channel [58] Field of Search. 219/366 37i for the entry and exit of fluid, that has near the hous- 165/121 & 415/54 ing frontat least one opening for fluid intake and discharge. A rotatable crossflow blower is disposed eccentrically in the substantially semicylindrical section; [56] References Cited and a flat partition is disposed in the channel and UNITED STATES PATENTS defines with the blower circumference a gap of about one-twentieth the blower diameter and partitions the gggg 5/1966 Klilsworthy "415/54 channel into entry and exitportions. A heating device 3109582 Ifiamg 3 maybe mounted on the partition, and the entry por- 3 524 044 8/1970 132:; et 4 X i n of the channel may open sideways of the housing. 1,368,328 2/1921 Eaton ..219/376 X 8 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNMM m INVENTOR:

J/M, mz 460M447 FORCED CIRCULATION AIR HEATING UNIT BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The invention relates to an idle blower arrangement and more particularly to a blower arrangement wherein the blower portion of the apparatus forms a gap with the housing thereof. The aforesaid gap is formed on the interior of the housing and said gap increases spirally in the direction of rotation of said blower as .well as in the opposite direction.

Blowers of this kind enjoy the advantage that they are able, without the aid of any auxiliary means such as eddy generators or pockets or the like, to operate satisfactorily. There is, however, still produced an eddy near the blower, which eddy can bring about a separation of the inflowing medium from the outflowing medium. The medium may be a fluid, such as air.

The instant improved blower arrangement has various areas of application, such as for instance in hair dryers, room heating devices and like mechanisms. It may be important, however, to prevent the outflowing medium from mixing with the inflowing medium, for instance, when the medium has to be heated and there is needed for the heating device a relatively large area away from the blower portion yet still within the housing thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of ,the principal objects of the invention is to provide an idle blower which is not subject to the foregoing drawbacks.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a blower which is simple and positive in operation and requires very little maintenance.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a blower which is composed of relatively few parts and is inexpensive to make and use. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following specification and in part will be obvious therefrom without being specifically referred to, the same being realized and attained as pointed out in the claims hereof.

Generally, the foregoing objects may be attained by a blower arrangement in the housing of which there is formed a common intake and discharge channel for the inflowing and outflowing media, such as a fluid, for instance air, said channel being divided by a partition which operates to separate the two media. The partition is so positioned that the edge thereof which faces the body of the blower is disposed at a distance from the circumference of the blower of at least one-twentieth (1/20) of the blower diameter.

It is immediately apparent that herein lies the advantageous possibility of transforming the energy led into the medium in the blower into work efliciency, even when there is provided a common channel for the intake and output medium. Aside from the simple construction, the common channel offers the advantage that a built-in heater will be constantly warming the inflowing as well as outflowing medium.

Moreover, at a preferred 180 deflection of the air current in the housing, a common channel .having parallel side walls and a partition parallel thereto offers the advantage that the air drawn in and the air blown out may at least partly work side by side, for cooling or drying.

Inasmuch as the partition will have no influence with respect to the pressure formation produced within the blower there is no need to form the edge of the partition in any special way. A relatively large distance between the edge facing the blower and the balance of the blower body itself may be required: This large distance will aid to a large extent in decreasing the noise developed by the blower operation.

. An advantage of the hereinafter described blower arrangement is that the partition can accommodate heating and control devices.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

With the above and other objects of the invention in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of various devices, elements and parts, as set forth in the claims hereof, certain embodiments of the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of an idle blower arrangement in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a modified idle blower arrangement; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a further modified blower arrangement.

In carrying the invention into efiect in the embodiments which have been selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings and for description in this specification, and referring now particularly to FIG. 1, there is provided a housing 1 which includes a semicylindrical section and a channel section that defines an entry and exit channel 2. The channel 2 in a preferred embodiment has substantially parallel main or side walls 2', 2", and a rotatable blower 3 is mounted eccentrically in the housing 1. Due to the eccentric arrangement, there is formed a gap or portion 4 between the exterior of the blower 3 and the inner wall of the housing 1. This portion 4 spirally increases in the direction of the intake side as well as in the direction of the output side. I

The end walls of the housing 1, as well as the electromotor, are not shown in the drawing, as they are of conventional type. The housing 1 may in a preferred embodiment be arranged so that it will with its semicylindrical section surround the blower 3 at an angle of The electromotor is operable to actuate the blower 3 and may be arranged within the housing 1 in axial prolongation of the blower 3.

Within the channel 2 there is arranged a partition or separating wall 5. In a preferred embodiment, the partition is disposed substantially parallel to the main walls 2', 2"; the innermost edge 5 of the partition 5 is arranged so that it faces the blower 3 and is at a distance therefrom of about one-twentieth of the blower diameter. The partition 5 suhdivides the volume or cross-sectional area of the entry and exit channel 2 at a ratio of about 1 3 in favor of the entry portion. The partition 5 divides the channel 2 into endwise connected, but otherwise separate entry and exit portions. The partition 5, if desired, may be arranged in substantially parallel relationship to the main walls of the entry and exit channel 2. The partition 5 may also be arranged near the other end by a plane intersecting at about the middle of the blower 3.

On either one or both sides of the partition 5 there may be positioned heating coils 6 which are connected in a circuit to an electric source by means of wires 7, 8. Within the electric circuit there may furthermore be provided a bimetallic switch 9 which is mounted on the partition 5, the switch 9 serving as a control device to prevent overheating. The bimetallic switch 9 is comprised of a base -10 upon which the bimetal 11 is mounted. The free end of the bimetal 11 opens and closes the heating current at a contact place 12, depending on set temperature range of the switch 9. Instead of a bimetallic switch 9 there may be mounted a suitable control device on the partition 5.

The intake and output channel 2 may furthermore be protected by a grate, to keep foreign objects out of the channel 2 and to prevent injury by the blower to either clothing, tools, or persons hands.

The blower 3 in a preferred embodiment rotates in the direction of the arrow 16 and sucks in the medium, for instance, air. Due to the gap 4 there is induced a fixed eddy near the blower 3. This prevents the exhaust air from mixing with the inflowing air near the blower 3. Within the intake and output channel 2, the two media are streaming in counter currents and are kept from mixing by the partition 5. The heating coils 6 warm up the passing air on its path to the blower 3 and away therefrom. The relatively large distance between the blower 3 and the partition 5 generally will prevent the possibility that the partition 5 can become a creator of eddies. This large distance will have the effect of in creasing the noise dampening qualities of the arrangement.

According to FIG. 2, the intake or entry channel 12 may be constructed so that it is shorter than the output or exit channel 13; such as where the latter is narrower than the former. Other arrangements, such as eccentric arrangements of the blower 3, semicylindrical housing 1 and the partition 5 are the same as in FIG. 1. Shortening of the intake channel 12 may be advantageous from the point of view of saving space.

The blower arrangement in accordance with FIG. 3 depicts an intake channel 14 having side apertures 15. The inlet and outlet sections of the channel 2 may be arranged side by side in the same plane. The configuration of the blower 3 is otherwise unchanged. The side apertures 15 are operative to reduce the suction pres- 1 sure, so that there is minimized the danger that dust will be sucked into the blower 3 along with the entering medium. There exists furthermore the possibility that the medium sucked in sideways will cool the driving motor of the blower 3.

Aside from the parallel arrangement of the partition 5 within the intake and output channel 2, there is the possibility to transmit the outgoing medium at a certain preselected directionby arranging the main walls 2', 2", of the intake and output channel 2 and/or the partition 5 at a set angle, so that for instance there is formed a nozzle. The foregoing arrangements lie within the scope of the invention inasmuch as by means of the partition 5 mixing of the media is prevented and thus formation of eddies by means of the partition will not occur.

From the foregoing description of the invention it will be apparent that the invention provides a unique and improved apparatus known as a blower arrangement. While what is now believed to be a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes can be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiments are to be considered as illustrative, rather than restrictive of the invention, and those modifications which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be included therein.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A blower arrangement,

comprising in combination, 7

a housing including substantially parallel upper and lower main walls and a substantially semicylindrical wall connected thereto defining a substantially semicylindrical section closing the rear of said housing, said main walls defining a channel for the entry and exit of fluid, said channel havingnear the housing front at least one opening for fluid intake and discharge,

a rotatable crossflow blower disposed eccentrically in said substantially semicylindrical section, being closer to the lower wall than to the upper wall, the axis of rotation of said blower being disposed below the center plane between said upper and lower walls,

a partition being flat throughout and disposed in said channel below a-plane tangent to the blower circumference and above a plane passing through said axis of rotation, and having its end portion nearest the blower spaced from the blower circumference for a distance of about one-twentieth of the blower diameter and partitioning said channel into entry and exit portions,

said upper and lower main walls extending frontwardly of the blower thereby enveloping the blower.

2. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing surrounds said blower throughout an angle of about 3. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, and a heater including its control device mounted on said partition.

4. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said partition defines a separating wall arranged substantially parallel to said main walls.

5. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 4, and a heating device mounted on said separating wall.

6. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said entry portion is shorter than the exit portion and the exit channel is narrower than the entry channel.

7. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, the entry and exit portions having respectively, inlets and outlets arranged side by side in about the same plane.

8. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, said entry portion opening sideways of said housing.

* a: k a: 

1. A blower arrangement, comprising in combination, a housing including substantially parallel upper and lower main walls and a substantially semicylindrical wall connected thereto defining a substantially semicylindrical section closing the rear of said housing, said main walls defining a channel for the entry and exit of fluid, said channel having near the housing front at least one opening for fluid intake and discharge, a rotatable crossflow blower disposed eccentrically in said substantially semicylindrical section, being closer to the lower wall than to the upper wall, the axis of rotation of said blower being disposed below the center plane between said upper and lower walls, a partition being flat throughout and disposed in said channel below a plane tangent to the blower circumference and above a plane passing through said axis of rotation, and having its end portion nearest the blower spaced from the blower circumference for a distance of about one-twentieth of the blower diameter and partitioning said channel into entry and exit portions, said upper and lower main walls extending frontwardly of the blower thereby enveloping the blower.
 2. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing surrounds said blower throughout an angle of about 180*.
 3. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, and a heater including its control device mounted on said partition.
 4. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said partition defines a separating wall arranged substantially parallel to said main walls.
 5. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 4, and a heating device mounted on said separating wall.
 6. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said entry portion is shorter than the exit portion and the exit channel is narrower than the entry channel.
 7. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, the entry and exit portions having respectively, inlets and outlets arranged side by side in about the same plane.
 8. A blower arrangement, as claimed in claim 1, said entry portion opening sideways of said housing. 